Strategy Lead, Japan (Series C HealthTech)

We’re making good health last a lifetime

More than 1 billion people globally live with obesity — a major leading indicator of many preventable chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease.

Eucalyptus is the company behind “Juniper”, one of the world’s largest weight management programs combining GLP-1 medication with a tailored nutrition and exercise programme, supported by our multidisciplinary care team of prescribers, health coaches, dietitians, nurses and pharmacists.

Our published clinical research demonstrates that our combined approach to weight management and lifestyle change means that our patients are 4x as likely to lose significant weight through their course of treatment with Juniper.

Since launching, we’ve grown fast to support millions of patients. In 2024 alone…

• Globally, grew revenue by >120% YoY, while reducing cash burned by 90% YoY and grew our valuation to >$500M USD, with over $100M USD raised from global investors such as BOND, NewView, Blackbird and Airtree - early backers of companies like Canva, Stripe and AirBnb
• Grew to over 100,000 monthly active patients globally across our weight management program
• Grew from 5,000 to ~40,000 patients in the UK alone, and received selective NICE endorsement to provide service to the NHS
• Tailored our offering to over 5,000 patients in Germany and Japan, with a goal to extend our patient base to over 30,000 patients across both markets in 2025

What’s next?

Our goal for the next 3 years is to be supporting 1 million patients globally - live better for longer - by launching into new conditions, demographics and geographies as we move towards our vision of creating a preventative healthcare ecosystem.

We’re going to build the world’s largest international digital healthcare company. This will be really hard to do, but very rewarding and possibly, the adventure of a lifetime with some of the best operators you will ever work with. If that gets you excited, let’s talk.

About the Role (What You’ll Be Doing)

In light of our rapid growth as a company, we are looking for an experienced operational leader to join our leadership team in Japan to steer the ship across our operations, specifically focusing on clinical operations business unit, with 4-5 direct reports.

This role demands strong strategic thinking combined with an executional powerhouse, and seasoned leadership to align cross-functional teams and drive impactful results in a complex, high-growth environment.

As the operational backbone of the Japan business, you will build and scale systems and help the business make high-impact decisions. You’ll create structure, accountability, and visibility across all levels of the organisation to ensure we’re executing against our biggest priorities. You will be reliable - showing up consistently, taking responsibility without ego. You understand frontline experiences and make decisions that reflect real operational needs.

This role reports directly to the Taylor McCarthy, Head of Expansion - Japan (based in Tokyo, JP) and will work closely with:

• Justin Teo, Head of International Expansion & General Manager - Japan (based in Tokyo, JP)
• Function Leaders across the Japan team - Growth, Product, Operations, and Business Operations

The role is initially focussed on Japan, however has the potential to grow into a role covering regional operations as the business grows.

Capabilities you’ll be responsible for:

• Operations & Strategic Projects:

  Take ownership of a variety of operational responsibilities that cut across functions—ranging from project management and process improvement to performance tracking and vendor coordination. You'll contribute to strategic initiatives, help shape new workflows, and ensure operational excellence as the company scales. This is a hands-on, wide-ranging role that touches multiple aspects of the business.

• Analytical & Commercial Support:

  Support business and operational decisions with data-driven insights. You may build Excel models, track KPIs, develop forecasts, and evaluate the commercial impact of new initiatives. Your work will support not only clinical operations but also broader strategic planning, helping the business make informed and effective decisions.

• Clinical Operations: Responsible for ensuring our patients are able to access prescriptions in a safe, and reliable manner. We run thousands of safety audits monthly, and are constantly providing feedback to our team, and adapting our clinical protocols to enhance patient safety.

• Practitioner Collaboration and Management: Serve as an escalation point for our remote practitioners and facilitate collaboration between practitioners and internal teams. Ensure timely and effective management and escalation of clinical risks and incidents.

• Leadership Operations: Responsible for coordinating the strategic planning, goal setting, leadership development and support mechanisms within Japan. Your ability to create impact in this capability should magnify the impact all other leaders are able to create within their functions. You will also play a key role in attracting and nurturing new leaders to join the company.

Expectations for your role across these capabilities:

The goal of a high performing operation is deliver a quality and safe experience, to as many patients as possible, at the lowest cost possible

• You will be responsible for ensuring we are delivering seamlessly against all agreed SLAs and metrics across all of the capabilities you are responsible for
• You will drive focus, accountability and motivation across the team through rituals, reporting & stakeholder updates
• You will be the final decision maker for most hiring and performance decisions within the above capabilities, and are expected to raise the bar as the function develops
• You will need to both be an effective leader for your direct reports, as well as a coach for the rest of the leadership team, supporting your peers in their development and lifting their sails in the process
• You will set the ambition for improvement through process optimisation, and increasing the deployment of AI enabled service delivery to improve quality and timeliness while reducing cost of our operational capabilities

About You (Who We’re Looking For)

Skills and experience

• You have a combined 7+ years of experience across a high growth company scale up (preferably D2C), as well as experience working in top tier consulting or investment banking (MBB or bulge bracket investment bank preferred). This is by no means prescriptive, but we operate at the intensity of these types of organisations and are uncompromising on standards.
• Building high performing teams: You have experience building and scaling high performing teams (ideally from <10 to 100+) across topics such as workforce planning, hiring and onboarding, coaching and development, and performance management. You also have experience collaborating extensively with other leaders and supporting them on their development journey whether as peers, or as a manager
• Creative problem-solver and detail oriented: You are highly organised, and not fazed by complex or ambitious problems. You are able to think critically, and break down big goals into smaller workstreams to empower others to act. You can design, manage and scale processes, adapting them as required at the various scales of the operation, and ensure a high degree of accuracy in your outputs. You can see the forest for the trees, and an expert systems thinker.
• Accountable to the numbers: You are highly literate both financially and in operational data, have a strong understand of the metrics that matter across a variety of business functions. You build systems that hold yourself and others accountable to the numbers, and
• Communicate with clarity: You communicate incisively, honestly and often, leveraging the most appropriate mediums for different types of messages. You are able to synthesise complex concepts into clear insights and narratives that resonate with a broad audience. Business-level or higher proficiency in both English is required. Bonus points for business-level or higher proficiency in Japanese.
• Executional powerhouse: Strategy is simple, achieving it through flawless execution is what’s hard. Maintaining momentum will require good judgment and acting quickly within a fast-paced environment. You are not afraid to lead from the front, and get your hands dirty when it matters.

Behaviours & Attitudes

• You act like an owner, and a servant leader: You have a charismatic ‘can do’ attitude. You are motivated by impact and driven by wanting to help others. You go the extra mile to create outcomes for your team, stakeholders, and our patients. You know when you need to lead from the front and get your hands dirty. You relish in the success of empowering others to do their best work.
• Relentlessly ambitious: You get excited by setting audacious goals, rallying the team to chase after them, celebrating the win, and doing it all over again. You understand that healthcare could be so much better and more accessible for millions of people worldwide, and are excited to relentlessly change the world.
• Craving for curiosity: You are self-motivated to understand the reasons beneath the surface of the numbers. When metrics are off track, you are not satisfied until you have interrogated the system deeply to determine whether the issue is intermittent or persistent and requires thorough evaluation and improvement of the system. When metrics are ahead of track, you seek to understand whether it can be replicated across the business before celebrating the win.
• Calm, collected and resilient: You thrive in a fast-paced, chaotic, startup environment where you will need to balance quality with velocity and a MVP mindset. You understand how to prioritise, manage multiple projects end to end and deliver growth results within a highly ambiguous environment. You are able to still the chaos into specific executable action for your teams.
• Desire to develop others and yourself: You foster a strong desire to learn and develop. You can easily adapt in a fast paced environment and consider every new experience as an opportunity to learn. You strive for excellence in yourself and others, are hungry for feedback to improve, and settle for nothing less.

Why Join Euc?

So, why join Eucalyptus?

• Make real impact, fast - We build in the open together, which helps us learn and iterate more quickly so we can deliver high quality outcomes faster than anyone else. Helping impact patients lives for the better from the moment you join Euc.
• You’ll work with others who are incredibly passionate about what they do - Our talent bar is high and our work ethic is strong. You’ll get to stretch yourself everyday, be given autonomy to tackle interesting problems, and work amongst people who care deeply about our patients.
• You’ll be supported to accelerate your career - Regular feedback alongside our bi-annual performance reviews, a professional development budget & leave help ensure you have the support you need to level up. We’re committed to helping every Eucalypt reach their full potential.
• We also offer a range of benefits including
  • A generous ownership stake in the business through our employee share options program
  • Annual health check up, flu shot reimbursements
  • Monthly commuting expense reimbursements
  • 15 days of paid vacation
  • A fun office with regular socials including weekly lunches and quarterly dinners to celebrate team milestones
  • Your own MacBook and more!

Want to hear more about what it’s like to work at Eucalyptus? Hear from our team here or check us out on Instagram @eucalyptus.health

At Eucalyptus, we value individuals from all backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives, and we embrace the unique qualities each person brings. When you apply, please let us know of any reasonable adjustments you may need during the interview process.